Cat curfew call to protect region's native wildlife across Port Macquarie-Hastings

Local government laws limiting the movement of cats during the day and night are not new.

A 24 hour cat curfew was implemented by Knox City Council in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne in October 2021.

Resident pets were confined to the house, shed, garage, enclosure and backyard 24 hours a day, under the council's Domestic Animal Management Plan. The decision was supported by 85 per cent of people surveyed.

Lake Cathie resident Meschelle Nowak said it's time cats had a curfew and owners were held accountable for the damage to wildlife.

"Cats are avid hunters. How many of our native birds and animals need to die due to irresponsible pet owners?" she said.

"Why can't cat owners be held accountable for destruction of wildlife? Why isn't there a curfew in place for cats?

"One night we saw a cat who had taken an owl. My husband chased the cat and the owl managed to get away.

"We have had the privilege of having Willy Wagtails build a nest on an outdoor shower at the front of our home. Should cats get a hold of the female Willy Wagtail the babies would have very little chance of survival."

Mount Barker in the south-east of Adelaide has also previously voted limited the number of cats to two in 2019. The council also introduced a curfew for felines from 8pm until 7am.

The Tackling The Feral Cat Pandemic report released in late 2020 by the Federal Parliament found that cats were the primary drivers of mammal extinctions nationally and indicated almost 3.8 million pet cats kill up to 390 million animals every year in Australia.

The report found a single pet cat can roam and hunt more than 186 mammals, reptiles and birds each year. A feral cat in the bush would hunt more than 791 mammals, birds, reptiles and frogs annually year.

FAWNA president Meredith Ryan said cat attacks are prevalent on native wildlife and FAWNA would support a cat curfew.

"We would be totally behind something like a cat curfew. Unfortunately cats are regarded as free living creatures but really they shouldn't be, because of the enormous harm they do to native wildlife," she said.

"We have a category for statewide cat attacks (on rescued animals) and I can tell you that those statistics are in the hundreds of thousands.

"People love their cats but they need to know that their cats instinct is to hunt and what better to hunt than small birds and lizards.

"We only ask for responsible cat ownership and owners to keep them indoors or in cat run."

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